Machine for sewing shoes



July 27, 1954 F. ASHWORTH ETAL 2,684,648

MACHINE FOR SEWING SHOES Filed April 18, 1952 H/ Inn fg :"f;

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www w Patented July 27, 1954 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE MACHINE FORSEWING SHOES 1952, Serial No. 283,051

(Cl. i12-46) Application April 18,

8 Claims.

The present invention relates to machines for sewing shoes, moreparticularly that class of shoe disclosed in United States LettersPatent No. 2,467,466-, granted April 19, 1949, in the name oi. L. S.Curtin, in which a sole unit is permanently attached to the outflangedmarginal portion of a stitchdown shoe upper while mounted upon alast,.the' projecting marginal portions of the shoe being rough roundedwith a variable width edge about they shoe: after a practice commonlyemployed in the manufacture of Goodyear welt shoes. In such GoodyearWelt practice the variable width projecting marginal portion of a shoefrequently is designated as a Baltimore edge.

The. usual procedure in the manufacture of stitchdown shoes consists inapplying a sole to a last, lasting anupper over the last with themargin-al portions outfianged and engaged with the projecting marginalportion of the sole unit. The engaging portions of the sole and upperare then rough rounded with a uniform extension projecting fromv thebottom surface of the last. To complete the shoe a welt is laid in thecrevice between. the bulging last supported surface and sole engagingoutrlanged portion of the upper. An outsole is then sewed to the shoe.with stitches passing through the welt to secure a permanent attachmentof theV parts.

In sewing the. parts together a stitchdown shoe is presented ordinarilyto. an outsole stitcher similar to that disclosed in United StatesLetters Patent No. 2,013,751, granted September l0, 1935, in the` nameof A, Eppler. This machine is provided with a iixed work support againstwhich the bulging last supported surface of the upper is guided and awelt guide passage in the work support directs a stitchdown welt intothe crevice of the shoe in advance of the sewing point in the machine.No edge gage is employed in the machine so that the seam line isdirected a uniform distance from the crevice throughout the length ofthe projecting marginal portions of the parts. The projecting marginalportions of the shoe are then trimmed and finished along their edgesfollowing the iines to which they were originally rough rounded andsewed.

Because of the uniform marginal projections along the edges of the upperand sole unit the usual stitchdown shoe is readily distinguishable inappearance from a Goodyear Welt shoe having a variable width orBaltimore edge, except for the stitchdown type of shoe disclosed in theCurtin patent above noted. If an attempt is made to provide a Baltimoreor other variable width edge on a stitchdown shoe, according to usualprocedures, the line of stitches does not follow the edge so that thedecorative appearance is impaired and an opportunity for curling andseparation along the edges of the wider parts is introduced.

To secure a construction having the appearance of a Goodyear welt shoe,the parts of the stitchdown shoe disclosed in the Curtin patent aretemporarily attached by cement, and are brought into cooperativerelationship by suitable lasting and forming machines with a stitchdownwelt laid on the outanged margin of the upper while the shoe issupported on a. last, the welt being temporarily secured in the crevicebetween the last supported and the outiianged marginal portions of theupper. The projecting margins r of the welt, upper and sole are thenrough rounded before stitching to provide a relatively wide extension inthe forepart and a narrow extension both in the shank of the shoe and atthe toe in accordance with Goodyear welt shoe practice. After temporaryassembly of the parts, a, permanent attachment is made in the Curtinshoe by inserting an outseam, the stitches of which pass through thewelt, outfianged margin of the upper and sole at a uniform distance fromthe rough rounded edge of the sole, imparting an acceptable and pleasingappearance with a reliable shoe structure resulting. To insert theoutseam, an outsole stitcher is employed having an edge gage for guidingthe seam a uniform distance from the rough rounded edges.

An object of the present invention is to provide machine for mattingshoes of the stitchdown type in which it is no longer necessary tosecure a welt temporarily to the projecting margin of an outsole bycement as a separate operation before the shoe is rough rounded asdisclosed in the Curtin patent. Further objects are to provide a novelmachine arranged to enable more eiective manufacture of stitchdownshoes, the lmarginal portions along the outlanged upper and projectingsole are rough rounded with a variable width extension, in a manner thatwill result in proper assembly and permanent attachment of a welt to theother parts of the shoe in a single operation including the insertion ofa line oi? stitches passing through the parts at a uniform distance fromtheir rough rounded edges. Still further and more general objects are toirnprove the construction of sewing machines for permanently attachingthe parts of a stitchdown shoe by the provision of means for eliminatingone or more operations required in the Curtin shoe while retaining theadvantages of a reliable shoe construction and ease of assemblyconsidered highly desirable with acceptable manufacturing procedures.

Consistent with the objects above referred to,

the machine of the invention has the usual stitch forming and workengaging devices for operating upon a sole, the outflanged portions ofan upper in a stitchdown shoe supported on a last and a superposedstitchdown welt, such devices including a curved hook needle, a looper,and a work support formed with a gage for the welt, in which the worksupport is mounted for movement as a unit with a shiftable carrieryieldingly actuated to press the work support against the bulging lastsupported surface of a shoe forcing the welt firmly into the crevicebetwen the bulging and outiianged sole engaging portions of the shoeupper. Preferably, the work support also has a welt guide passagemovable with it to guide the welt onto the work engaging surface of thework support.

In the usual sewing machine for accomplishing permanent attachment of anoutsole and an upper inY a Goodyear welt or other shoe where an edgeYgage is employed, the edge gage ordinarily is moving during sewingoperations, rather than the Work support which is fixed, so that theseam line spacing from the edge of the parts operated upon may be variedbut such arrangement has been found unsuitable for the purposes of thepresent invention. An arrangement of a movable work support and an edgegage which remains fixed during sewing operations is, therefore, theopposite to that usually employed in sewing machines for attaching partsof a stitchdown shoe. The shiftable carrier for the movable worksupport, has connected to it, in its illustrated form, a resilient meansof the proper character to act automatically in pressing the worksupport and welt yieldingly into proper sewing position so that noattention whatever is required on the part of the operator for seatingthe welt in the shoe crevice.

These and other features of the invention, as hereinafter described andclaimed will readily be apparent from the following detail descriptionand. accompaying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of certain of the stitch forming and workengaging devices in a machine embodying the features of the presentinvention;V

Fig. 2 is a sectional view on an enlarged scale of the work support,presser foot, edge gage and shoe parts operated upon in the machine ofFig. l looking from the right; and

Fig. 3 is a plan view of a portion of a shoe and some of the workengaging devices in the machine, shown while the sewing operation isbeing performed.

The machine illustrated in the drawings is intended for operation upon astitchdown shoe comprising an upper and a sole unit conformed to a lastThe sole unit includes an insole 6 mounted upon the last with itsmarginal projection secured to the outanged margin of the upper.indicated at 8, by stitches l as shown in Fig. 2. If an outsole l2 alsois to be used it is temporarily attached to the insole by cement.Ordinarily a stitchdown welt is applied in superposed relation to theother parts in the shoe during the operation on a sewing machine whichpermanently attaches the parts, the usual stit-chdown machine beingequipped with a work support haivng a welt guide arranged in advance ofthe sewing point.

A prerequisite to acceptable stitchdown welt sewing practice is edgewisepressure against the welt to seat it firmly within the crevice of astitchdown shoe between the bulging last supported and outflangedportions of the upper so that no gap will appear between the upper andthe inner edge of the welt. .'eretofore, firm seating of the welt insuperposed relation to the upper of a stitchdown shoe crevice has beenobtained in a sewing machine by the welt guide in the work support andby an integral block shaped welt gage on the work support directlybehind the sewing point, the welt guide directing the welt upwardly ontothe work engaging surface of the work support with the ouetr edge of thewelt maintained in firm engagement with the welt gage. Because the addedduty of properly seating the welt within the crevice of a stitchdownshoe requires extra attention on the part of the machine operator,manufacturers of stitchdown shoes have been content to produce shoeswhich have their sole edges conformed with the line of the seam securingthe welt permanently in position. The belief has been that the use of avariable extension or Baltimore edge would present an insurmountableburden on the operator so that attempts to manufacture stitchdown shoeswith variable width extensions have been avoided.

If a shoe having a variable width extension or Baltimore edge along itsprojecting marginal portions, as indicated in Fig. 3, is presented to anoutsole stitcher of the usual construction with no edge gage for thesole but with a fixed work support formed with a welt guide passage anda welt gage for guiding the welt to the sewing point, in accordance withprior stitchdown practice, the welt `will be pressed uniformly againstthe bulging last supported surface of the upper and secured within thecrevice of the shoe in an acceptable manner but the seam line will notfollow the edge of the sole along the variable width extension portions.Not only will the appearance of the shoe be adversely affected by suchconstruction, especially along the wider portions of the marginalextension but the seam actually may run off the edges of the parts alongthe portions of narrower extensions unless precautions are taken. Itthus appears that for satisfactorily sewing a stitchdown shoe andapplying a welt where a variable width or Baltimore edge extension isemployed in a single operation there must be two separate guidingdevices, one of which presses the welt into the shoe crevice and theother of which guides the line of the seam a uniform distance from thevariable width edge regardless of the width of extension. The only otheralternative to practical stitchdown shoe construction employing avariable width extension is that disclosed in the Curtin patent aboveidentified in which a separate operation is required to attach the welttemporarily before sewing.

Before the sewing operation on the marginal projections of the shoeparts is performed, in accordance with the practice of the presentinvention, the sole unit including the insole 6, the outsole I2 and theoutflanged margin of the upper 8 are rough rounded in a manner commonlyemployed in the manufacture of Goodyear welt shoes, with a variablewidth extension or Baltimore edge along the margins of the parts, (Fig.3) The line along which the parts are rough rounded, as indicated at I4,provides the widest extension along the forepart and the narrowestextensions in the shank and extreme toe end of the shoe. During sewing,the rough rounded edges of the parts are guided by an edge gage so thatthe line M gives direction to the shoe outseam, shown in Figs. 1 and 2at i5. This is the usual practice with Goodyear welt shoe manufacture. Acommercial form of rough rounding machine accordingly is employed andthe configuration is J determined in large part by the skill of theoperator.

As has been. indicated, the. machine of: the present invention enablessewing the marginal portions of a variable width extension edge on aStitchdown shoe with a seam spaced a uniform distance from the edges ofthe parts, while introducing into the seam the stitchdown welt so thattemporary attachment of. the welt to the extension edges, as disclosedin the Curtin patent in a separate operation, is no longerl necessary.To this end the machine of the invention has a work support I6constructed. in a manner similar to acceptable practice at its workengaging end. The work support has a stitchdown welt guide I8 formed asan integral passage leading onto the work engaging surface of thesupport and a stitchdown welt gage 2U in the form of a shoulder on anintegral block at the rear of an opening 22 through which the stitchforming devices pass.

The stitch forming devices oi' the machine include a conventional curvedhook needle 24, and a curved awl 2S moving through the opening 22 in thework support. The needle has cooperating with it a needle guide 28, alooper 3Q and a thread nnger 3i. Toclamp the shoe in operating position,a presser foot 32 engages the parts operated upon above the worksupport. Other partsv of the machine are similar to those disclosed inUnited States Letters Patent No. 1,169,909,

granted February l, 1916, upon application of F. Ashworth. In themachine of the Ashworth patent the work support is secured rigidly tothe frame of the machine and a shoe being operated on is guided alongthe work engaging surface of the Work support by an edge gage separatefrom the welt gage, which edge gage is secured to a shiftable carrierconnected for manual control during sewing operations.

In the machine of the present invention the manner of mounting the worksupport and the edge gage is reversed, resilient means being provided topress the work support yieldingly against the bulging last supportedsurface of the upper in the shoe, two extreme positions' in the yieldingY movement of the work support being illustrated by the solid anddot-dash lines of Fig. 2. The edge gage ofthe present machine isindicated at 34 and is rigidly clamped by a capscrew 36 to a member ofthe machine frame, indicated at 38 but is adjustable by loosening thecapscrew which passes through a slot in the shank of the edge gage. Thework support I'B, in turn, has a downwardly extending slotted shanksecured to a swinging carrier 40 shiftable transversely to the line ofthe seam, as previously employed for mounting the edge gage, the worksupport being movable as a unit with the carrier.

The shiftable work support carrier 40' in the illustrated machine has apivotal mounting consisting of a rotatable stud 42 passing looselythrough a bearing'in a frame member 44 and the stud is retained in thebearing against lengthwise movement by a cotter pin 46. Secured to thestud 42 is a lever 48. To press the work support against the shoe adownwardly extending arm of the lever 48 has connected to it the forwardend of` a tension spring 5U also fastened to a xed portion of themachine frame. The spring 50 acts to maintain the work supportyieldingly against the bulging last supported surface of the shoe upper,the axis of the stud 42 being so disposed as to cause the work support I6 to be shiftable with the carrier 4U transversely of the seam line.

To limit the shifting movement of the work support so that the opening22 therein will not move out of line with the needle or awl, the upperarmy of the lever 48 is forked and the fork ends have passing throughthem a pair of stop screws 52 provided with checknuts.. The stop screwshave their ends directed toward each other to engage alternately a stud54 secured in a stationary frame member 56 with sufcient free motion toinsure proper yielding action of the work-support.

If a rough rounded shoe of the stitchdown or similar type is presentedto the illustrated machine, the shoe will be guided by the edge gage 34to insert an outseam a uniform distance throughout its length from theoutline I4 of the outilanged upper edge. At the same time a welt,indicated at 58, passing through the guide I8 will be forced by the weltgage 20 on the work support with a uniform yielding pressure into thecrevice between the bulging and outlanged portions of the upper. Theseresults are obtained through the differential action of the edge gage 34and the welt gage in directing the seam on the one hand and welt on theother uniformly into proper sewing positions.

To insure covering the widest extension of the outanged upper along theforepart of a shoe, the welt 58 employed is of greater than usual width.Therefore, along the narrowest extensions of the parts at the shank andtoe of the shoe, the welt will project somewhat beyond the rough roundedoutline I4 of the upper and sole. For this reason, the edge gage 34 islocated above the welt gage 20 to clear the projecting portion of thewelt. The thickness of the welt is' such that it may readily be trimmedwithout special precautions or attention during the usual edge trimmingand nishing operations on the shoes after the sewing is completed.

In actual practice the machine has been found to accomplish the resultsdesired by an operator skilled only in the attachment of outsoleswithout other training or precaution. The work support moves yieldinglywithout the exercise of special skill or ability on the part of theoperator and results are accomplished with great uniformity, giving adesirable appearance to the shoe which cannot be distinguished from aGoodyear welt shoe without close inspection. Also, in many instances themachine may be employed to advantage in sewing shoes other thanstitchdowns and in operations other than those in which a welt isattached during sewing.

A method of making shoes with the machine of the invention hereindisclosed forms the subjectmatter of a divisional application, SerialNo. 384,032, led October 5, 1953.

The invention having thus been described, what is claimed is:

l. In a machine for sewing the projecting marginal portions of a shoesupported on a last, having stitch forming devices comprising a needle,a work support provided with a Welt gage, a presser foot acting tocla-mp the marginal portions of the shoe against the Work support, anedge gage and means for securing the edge gage in' a ixed positionrelatively to the needle, the combination with a shiftable carrier onwhich the work support is mounted for movement during sewing operationsyieldingly against the bulging last supported surface of the shoe topress a welt moving along the welt gage into the crevice between thebulging and projecting marginal portions of the shoe.

2. In a machine for sewing a sole to the outflangecl marginal portion ofan upper in a stitchdoWn shoe supported on a last having stitch formingdevices comprising a curved hook needle and a needle looper, a Worksupport provided with a stitchdovvn Welt guide and a Welt gage, apresser foot acting to clamp the marginal portions of the shoe and weltagainstthe work support, an edge gage and means for securing the edgegage in a nXed position relatively to the needle, the combination with ashiitable carrier for the Work support With which the Work support ismovable as a unit during sev-fing operations yieldingly against thebulging last supported surface of the shoe to press the welt movingalong the edge gage into the crevice bet veen the bulging and outfiangedsole engaging portions of the upper.

3. In a machine for sewing a sole to the outnanged marginal portion ofan upper in a stitchdown shoe supported on a last, having stitch formingdevices comprising a curved hook needle and a needle looper, a Worksupport provided with a stitchdown welt guide and a welt gage, a presserfoot acting to clamp the marginal portions oi the shoe and welt againstthe work support, an edge gage and means for securing the edge gage in afixed position relatively to the needle, the co 1 bination With ashiftable carrier for the work support with which the Work support ismovable during sewing operations and resilient means operativelyconnected to the carrier to press the Work support yieldingly into thecrevice between the bulging last supported and outanged sole engagingportions of the upper.

4, In a machine for sewing a sole to the ou*- flanged portion of anupper in a stitchdown shoe supported on a last, having a main frame,stitch forming devices in the frame comprising a curved hook needle anda needle looper, a work support formed with a welt guide passage leadingonto a work engaging surface thereof and a welt gage, an edge gage andmeans for securing the edge gage in a fixed position in the machine, incornbination with a carrier to which the Work support is secured, apivotal mounting for the carn rer about Which the Work support isshiftable transversely to the line of the seam inserted by the stitchforming devices, and means connected to the carrier for pressing theWork support against the bulging last supported surface of the upper toforce the Welt into the crevice between the bulging last supported andthe outilanged portions oi? the upper.

5. In a machine for sewing a sole to the outilanged portion of an upperin a stitchdown shoe supported on a last, having a main frame, stitchforming devices in the frame comprising a curved hooi: needle and aneedle looper, a work support formed with a Welt guide passage leadingonto a work engaging surface thereof and a Welt gage, an edge gage andclamping means for securing the edge gage in a fixed position in themachine, in combination with a carrier to which the Work support issecured, a pivotal mounting for the carrier about which the Work supportis shiftable transversely to the line of the seam inserted by the stitchforming devices, and means connected to the carrier for pressing theWork support against the bulging last supported surface or the upper toforce the welt into the crevice between the bulging last supported andthe outfianged portions of the upper, said edge gage being adjustable onthe frame of the machine.

6. In a machine for sewing a sole to the outrlanged portion of an upperin a stitchdown shoe supported on a last, having a main frame, stitchforming devices in the frame comprising a curved hooi; needle and aneedle locper, a Work support formed with a Welt guide passage leadingonto a work engaging surface thereof and a Welt gage, an edge gage andmeans for securing the edge gage in a iixed position in the machine, incombination with a carrier to which the Work support is secured, apivotal mounting for the carrier about which the Werl; support isshiftable transversely to the line of the seam inserted by the stitchforming devices, means connected to the carrier ior pressing the Worksupport against the bulging last supported surface of the upper to forcethe Welt into the crevice between the bulging last supported and theoutilanged portions of the upper, and stop means for limiting theshifting movement of the carrier about its pivotal mounting to preventdisplacement of the work support from operative relationship to thestitch forming devices,

7. In a machine for sewing a sole to 'the outrlanged portion of an upperin a stitchdown shoe supported on last, having a main frame, stitchforming devices in the frame comprising a curved hook needle and aneedle looper, a work support formed with a welt guide passage leadingonto a work engaging surface thereof and a welt gage, an edge gage andmeans for securing the edge gage in a position in the machine, incombination with a carrier to which. the Work support is secured, apivotal mounting for the carrier about which the Work support isshitable transversely to the line of the seam inserted by thestitc'nforming devices, means connected to the carrier for pressing the worksupport against the bulging last supported surface of the upper to-force the welt into the crevice between the bulging last supported andthe outflanged portions of the upper, and stop means for limiting theshifting movement of the carrier about its pivotal mounting to preventdisplacement of the work support from operative relationship to thestitch forming devices, comprising a stud fixed in the machine frame anda forked arm connected to the Work support carrier and stop screwscarried by the fork ends of said arm and located to engage alternatelywith the fixed stud.

8. Lu a machine for sewiner the projecting inarginal portions of a shoesupported upon a last and a Welt in superposed relation, which machinehas stitch forming devices comprising a needle, and Work clampingsupporting means for securing the shoe and welt in operativerelationship to the stitch forming devices, the combination with tworelatively movable gages disposed one above the other, the lower one orwhich acts on the welt to press the welt into the crevice between thebulging and projecting marginal portions of the shoe and the upper oneoi which acts on said projecting marginal portions of the shoe to guidethe line cf the seam a uniform distance from the edges of the marginalportions.

References Cited in the ille or" this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS

